The UnConference you had always dreamt of

The Goa Project is back for its 5th edition, doing what it does best: connecting interesting people.

The Goa Project, India’s premier platform to interact with thinkers, doers, performers and visionaries, today announced a change in date for its 2017 edition. It will now be held on 6th and 7th October, 2017, at Bay 15, Dona Paula, Goa.

Said Udhay Shankar, co-founder of The Goa Project: “Our commitment is to ensure we continue to connect as many interesting people and innovators across as many walks of life as possible. So, when we heard so many people tell us they wanted a different time of year for The Goa Project, we listened. And we’ll be back in October – for the fifth edition, better than ever.”

Designed as an interactive space, The Goa Project has been designed to foster conversations, collaborations and new projects through exchange of ideas. Completely crowd sourced and organized by a team of dedicated volunteers – professionals from across the globe – participants are invited to propose sessions, projects and workshops which are
then curated through a mixture of crowdsourced voting and expert inputs from the team.

We are happy to have these sponsors on board and want to introduce them to you. Thank you for supporting us!Wishberry

Wishberry is a crowdfunding platform. They aim to bring great ideas to life and build a community of believers who back ideas, thus putting India on the creative map of the world. Wishberry accepts projects which are creative and out of the box, across 13 main genres including Arts & Crafts, Films, Food etc. Following an All or Nothing model, Wishberry makes money only when the campaign meets its goal! A dynamic team with mostly women, Wishberry is one of the most successful crowdfunding platforms in India. Check out their website and start backing great projects: https://www.wishberry.inLetsVenture

LetsVenture started off with a simple vision of making fundraising easy for Indian startups. It has now grown into a power packed platform which connects Startups with global Angels, VCs and Startup Programs. Apart from bringing together startups and investors, LetsVenture’s expert team also reviews the business plans of startups and connects them to mentors. Their Commitment-to-Closure package takes care of closure of term sheet & shareholders agreement, and complete legal & financial due diligence. With an exciting team of dreamers, doers and believers, LetsVenture has set out to shake things up in the Indian startup ecosystem. Check out their website here: https://letsventure.com/

As with every year, we would like to acknowledge our wonderful sponsors. We appreciate their continued support of The Goa Project and our endeavors. Introducing our awesome sponsors…Microsoft Ventures, an initiative that supports and partners with promising start-ups from across the globe, empowers entrepreneurs to do more and aim higher. Start-ups focused on business growth and development, industrial strength technology and smart, quality, usable products are incubated and the companies helped to achieve more. For more, visit their website: https://www.microsoftventures.com

Thoughtworks is a global company which aims at revolutionizing software design and delivery. Passionate, driven and purpose-led people come together to form the ‘ThoughtWorkers’. They work with people and organizations which have ambitious missions – whether they are in the commercial, social or government sectors. ThoughtWorks also collaborate with organizations with a humanitarian mission and help them leverage technology to make a strong social impact. ThoughtWorks is a thought leader when it comes to learning and sharing knowledge. They fuel this process by writing books, blogging, conducting events and taking part in conferences. Check out their website: https://www.thoughtworks.com

In keeping with its commitment to partner with Indian small businesses for their success, Intuit has launched QuickBooks in India, which has become its flagship product in India. QuickBooks is the world’s No.1 business and financial management software for small businesses. It’s a simple online software for business owners to make informed decisions. It helps business owners organize finances and complies with managerial accounting standards. More information is available at: www.quickbooksonline.in

Miller is famous for its golden amber hue, a lacy head and a brew that is perfectly balanced and deliciously smooth. So raise a toast to the Highlife. As they say “ITS Miller TIME” somewhere in the world.

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), with headquarters in London and Glasgow, is responsible for international trade and investment. UKTI works with UK based businesses, helping them to achieve their potential and succeed in international markets through exports. They also offer their services and support to overseas companies looking to invest or expand their business in the UK, and highlight the UK as the best place for their investments. For complete details, click here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-trade-investment/about

Wishberry is a crowdfunding platform. They aim to bring great ideas to life and build a community of believers who back ideas, thus putting India on the creative map of the world. Wishberry accepts projects which are creative and out of the box, across 13 main genres including Arts & Crafts, Films, Food etc. Following an All or Nothing model, Wishberry makes money only when the campaign meets its goal! A dynamic team with mostly women, Wishberry is one of the most successful crowdfunding platforms in India. Check out their website and start backing great projects: https://www.wishberry.inNowFloats believe that technology, or rather the lack thereof, shouldn’t get in the way of businesses being able to use the internet to grow their bottom line. They have developed a solution where they give small and medium businesses a world-class website that they can update simply and easily using nothing more than regular SMS. Furthermore, their patent pending technology ensures that these messages pop up on popular search engines. Visit the NowFloats website at: http://nowfloats.com/Home/Why

LetsVenture started off with a simple vision of making fundraising easy for Indian startups. It has now grown into a power packed platform which connects Startups with global Angels, VCs and Startup Programs. Apart from bringing together startups and investors, LetsVenture’s expert team also reviews the business plans of startups and connects them to mentors. Their Commitment-to-Closure package takes care of closure of term sheet & shareholders agreement, and complete legal & financial due diligence. With an exciting team of dreamers, doers and believers, LetsVenture has set out to shake things up in the Indian startup ecosystem. Check out their website here: https://letsventure.com/

We share with you the experience of folks who attended The Goa Project 2015 and went back and wrote blog entries. If you have written one on the TGP experience, do send us your link too, so we can archive it here!

Three things I liked at the The Goa Project, which I feel are reasons enough to attend such unconferences in the future. People from different walks of life who are complete strangers attend. I did not know a single person but at the end of two days I had made friends with nearly a dozen interesting individuals including an art therapist, a make-up artist, an in-film placement expert, a design thinker, an econometrician, a bespoke designer, a theatre actor, a linguist, a podcaster and a spa owner among others. Can there be a wider variety? The unconference meant anyone could apply to be a speaker and share a point of view. So one could attend sessions as diverse as women-centric cinema, fund raising in the arts, the power to change habits and stress management among others. Most importantly the sea-side ambience provided a relaxed setting for learning with fun.

Meeting diverse group of people helps simulate the thinking beyond our limited scope and sometimes set routine. Source of an ideas could be the most unexpected space when we give up inhibitions, allow our subconscious to go beyond. Trigger could be a most unorthodox source. Designers, Artists, Start Ups, Creators, Does — thinks and entrepreneurs are such people who always excel on their own way.A chance to listen to them was “The Goa Project”.

The Goa Project 2015 last weekend ended on a real high, and we’re so glad you were there to experience the two days of fun and conversations and speakers and activities! With the ocean never far from our sights, and a wonderful venue in Bay15, it was the perfect setting to meet new people, reconnect with friends from TGPs past and have a memorable time.

We want to thank everyone who spoke and presented – it was your sessions that brought the event to life, and we also thank our wonderful, enthusiastic participants, who attended sessions, asked questions and were a wonderful audience!

A big shout out to our sponsors, some of whom attended and participated in the fun. You made The Goa Project 2015 possible, and your support allowed us to have a successful and grand time!

Bay 15 was a perfect venue, and we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality and service, as well as the great food.

Now that you came and saw and hopefully had a great time, we want to invite you to join us again next year, and not just as a participant, but as a volunteer! You saw the volunteer team from across India that came together for TGP 2015 on stage on the last night – we would love to have you join us next time! If you’re interested in volunteering, write to us: admin@thegoaproject.com

We are all still basking in the glow of The Goa Project 2015, but are already thinking ahead to next year as well! Thank you all once again, for attending, speaking, participating, contributing, dancing, drinking and having a great time!